Say, 15% across the board, on every source of income. Zero deductions. Capital gains, wages, dividends etc. The easiest to understand and administer. Everyone has skin in the game, so the wolves don't vote the sheep for dinner. Biblically congruent. The ruling class (politicians, lawyers, Fortune500) hate it. Perhaps it's the best solution?
I think about it a lot. The only fair tax is an income tax. Bad for me, but yes cap gains and dividends should be treated as ordinary income. I could go for something like that if you completely eliminated the tax on the 500 companies I own. Why tax them? Why tax them on money made over seas? Tax the individual like me when he receives a dividend, or he sells some shares at a profit (to pay my tax bill.) however, I would disagree with you one point, and I may be wrong. I would like to see a very high personal exemption. I don't like the idea of young kids just starting out barely able to make enough to buy a washer and dryer (which is why I am against a consumption or sales tax) to pay for some war which is only going to benefit one of the 500 companies I own. But I am open to debate on that one if you can convince me otherwise. so to reiterate, I am for complete elimination of corporate taxes, very high personal taxes no break for cap gains or dividends, and also a very high personal exemption. You don't start paying federal income taxes until you have at least got your feet on the ground. oh yeah, eliminate the mortgage deduction (for all new houses purchased, ones already enjoying the deduction would be grandfathered) which is just about the greatest wealth redistribution from the poor to the rich, and also the charity deduction. Not to mention all subsidies to your favorite campaign donor.
A very bad idea in my opinion. The wealthy are in love with the "Steve Forbes Flat Tax" and happily promote it on the basis of "fairness" and "simplicity". A flat tax is bad for the wealthy in the long run, however, though few recognize it. During a brief period in the 1980s the U.S, compressed brackets and rates, by raising the rate in the lowest bracket and drastically lowering the rate in the top brackets and reducing the number of brackets to the point of having nearly a flat tax. This, following on the heels of the great moderation of the 1950s-1970s, marked the beginning of the great wealth redistribution from the lower middle class upward to the wealthy class. If you want more of this, than a completely flat tax is the way to go. Regardless of the amount of progressiveness built into the income tax, the wealthy will end up paying much more per individual in nominal terms for government. As the income tax rate is flattened, however, the wealthy, collectively, pay about as much for government as the middle class collectively do, while benefiting far more from government than the middle class. Under a flat tax nearly all the investment money is left with the wealthy class, and virtually none remains with the lower middle class. This is a regressive tax system that leaves very little opportunity for those in the lower middle class to move up the economic ladder.
yes, the wealthy are in love with the "Steve Forbes Flat Tax." Just let me know, I have several free tickets to their upcoming rally. You can get an autographed ticket from Carl Ichan, Warren will be there, and the King of Siam will be performing magic tricks. Piezoe is right, it will be a love fest for the wealthy. But they don't realize it is bad for them, because they have bad advisors and spend all their time buying yachts and private jets. There is no love lost between me and the ultra rich, but as a caring American, I don't want them to do something that is bad for them.
Exemptions and deductions are the pathway to hell. Once that can of worms is opened, a 900 page tax code is "amended" to 77,000 pages in 100 years. Not a good idea. Simplicity is key. If everyone pays the same rate, then there are no politicians to bribe, and no extortionist compliance costs. Piezoe - the rich pay the lions share of taxes under any system. And nearly every tax system is regressive. Progressive tax rates are regressive. The poor pay far more in taxes as a percentage of their income then the rich, as it stands now. Who cares. I'm talking radical change. Get rid of the entire code. Junk it. Replace it with 3 sentences (10% Federal Tax across the board on Income, Corporate Earnings, Dividend, Capital Gains etc), and be done with it. The poor have to pay taxes. When everyone suffers the burden of the taxman, voters are loathe to support programs paid for through higher taxes. When the poor pay nothing, it just incentivizes the sheep to vote the wolves for dinner. It's no different then rich leaning on the poor. Equality for everyone. And the argument that a 10% tax makes it harder to move up the ladder, doesn't fly. Sorry. People get ahead by working their ass off and furthering their skill set. Not collecting foodstamps and section 8 housing.
Btw, America was built without an income tax. Progressive tax rates didn't come into existence really until the 50's. What I'm saying here is America thrived and prospered for nearly 200 years on very low tax rates. We need to get back to that. This country is going bankrupt.
hmmm, If I own a corporation, I'm pretty sure I can hire better accountants than the IRS and prove I made no taxable profit. Your dream of the IRS going up against the corporation is starting to look pretty childish. A little bribe, and they will write me a little loophole. I'll give you 10% on the poor starts them off right, you can have that one. But if you are the IRS and try to tax my corporation fairly, I will chew you up and spit you out. And the pathetic thing is, the more you try to fuck me over, the less I actually make, and the less revenue you collect. That is because you are a worthless piece of shit unnecessary government agency. Like another evil parasite who drains the lifeblood out of the host. Tax the poor, they are not really contributing, and get them, and get them early.
Not sure where you're going with that one. Corporations don't earn profits? Okay... Loopholes are the problem. Loopholes are the reason we have a 77,000 page tax code that generates 700 Billion dollars a year in compliance costs (another tax). A flat tax on everyone and every Corporation eliminates all of that. It's quite brilliant.
yes, corporations make profits, and they pay them to their cubicles, their computers, their parking lots, and their buildings. Nothing pisses me off more than a cubicle that isn't paying taxes. Are you for real? That's what you want to tax? The other thing that pisses me off is when these Mexican landscapers take the money I give them and buy new lawnmowers. Shouldn't "We the People" get a piece of that action? godammed fuckin corporations are making all the money and we aren't getting any of it next time, vote democrat
Fair tax is a flat tax. Everyone pays. Including Corporations. You're overreacting and being ridiculous.